Poker News

PartyPoker Adds Tony G

Famed loudmouth Tony G will bring his abrasive style of poker to a team that already includes Mike Sexton, Ian Frazer, Bodo Sbrzesny, Remy Biechel, Stewart Scott, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos and the recently signed Kara Scott.

Tony G will make his PartyPoker debut at the upcoming 2010 Aussie Millions.

“I cannot wait to start playing for Team Party on the circuit,” said Tony G. “I’ve always loved Party and what better way to kick off than at the Aussie Millions. I am also really excited about the Premier League in February - it is the best event in poker in my eyes.”

Tony G has been one of the hottest players in the Premier League’s recent events with a second and third place finish.

As part of the deal with PartyPoker, Tony G’s signature poker site TonyGPoker.com, will be moved to the PartyPoker-owned Noble Poker. The transfer should be relatively painless as both sites are on the iPoker network.

“We are delighted to welcome Tony to Team Party,” said a PartyGaming spokesman. “Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game – a personal deal for him made huge sense. We are also happy to have acquired the assets of TonyGPoker.com and look forward to welcoming his players aboard."

Born as Antanas Guoga in Lithania, Tony G moved to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 11 and began playing poker at the age of 18.

Tony G quickly built a reputation for aggressive play and trash talk at the tables. In 2003, Tony G made the final table of the WPT Euro Finals of Poker in Paris, which established him as an upcoming player to watch.

Since then Tony G has accumulated nearly $4 million in tournament earnings with large scores at the Asian Poker Tour, WPT, WSOP and PartyPoker World Open.

In 2007 Tony G won the Moscow Million for $205,000 and donated the entire first place prize to Russian orphanages.

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Annette Obrestad wins Aussie Millions $1,100 PLO event

Inaugural World Series of Poker Europe champion, Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad, has added $40,000 to her impressive resume of online and live tournament earnings after taking down Event 4 of the 2010 Aussie Millions.

European Poker Tour Deauville Day 1a: 339 Poker Hopefuls Storm the Beach

An impressive field turned out for Day 1a of the EPT Deauville, possibly just to get out of the miserable January rain. Whatever the reason, 339 players started today, raising expectations that the total number of runners will absolutely smash...

The PokerNews Jet Set: Deauville

Northern France in January-- it isn’t exactly Aruba or the Bahamas but it is the home of one of the European Poker Tour’s softer and larger fields. While the summer months find Deauville’s beaches packed with well-to-do tourists and celebrities in..

Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz Added to PartyPoker.com Premier League IV Roster

As the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV draws closer, the field of 12 continues to take shape.  On Tuesday, PartyPoker.com announced that poker's newest bad boy, Luke "FullFlush" Schwartz, has been confirmed as the fifth player for the February contest.  Schwartz joins Premier League III winner J.C. Tran, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, World Poker Tour (WPT) Season 7 world champion Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko, and "Triple Crown" winner Roland de Wolfe in the exclusive event, which will take place February 11th to 18th in Las Vegas.

Schwartz caught the attention of the poker world in 2009 by racking up seven-figure profits online, all the while beating an impressive list of players.  Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, Brad Booth, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, and David "Raptor" Benefield were among his victims.  Perhaps more than his poker skill, it was his "in your face" personality that really turned heads.  Known to trash talk to his heart's content, Schwartz cemented himself as one of online poker's most controversial figures when he called Dwan and Di "Urindanger" Dang "gay" in a public interview.

In October 2009, Schwartz took his behavior to another level, stealing a sandwich from a food stand after busting out of the European Poker Tour (EPT) London event.  Having been previously banned from Grosvenor Casino properties for not obeying the dress code only to have the ban lifted in time for EPT London, he was banned once again for his actions.

Schwartz may be young, but he is far from intimidated by the already strong field.  "For sure there are some big names playing but I have to be a huge favorite," he told PartyPoker.com.  "They need to know that I’m coming with my sharky hat on and it's gonna be a whole week of soul owning from Full Flush."

"He is poker's new villain, no question about that," Daniel Negreanu once wrote in his blog.

Seven players are yet to be determined and all but one will be hand picked by PartyPoker.com.  The final competitor will be a PartyPoker.com online qualifier.  A total of 16 qualifiers will square off in Las Vegas, battling it out in a series of sit and go tournaments to determine which skilled player will receive the final (and free) seat in the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV.  In addition, PartyPoker.com will evaluate each of the 16 qualifiers and select one to receive a $100,000 sponsorship deal from the site.  While one would assume that the winner will have a leg up on the competition, PartyPoker.com will also consider personality and marketability in addition to poker skill, so even those who do not win the 12th seat will have a chance at the sponsorship deal.

The PartyPoker.com Premier League has a unique format.  The 12 players will compete in a series of six-handed sit and gos, or "heats," with points awarded based on the order of finish.  Once all the heats are completed, the top four point winners will advance to the six-handed Grand Final.  The next four players will face off in heads-up matches to determine the fifth and sixth members of the final table.

With a $100,000 buy-in and $300,000 added by PartyPoker.com, the prize pool for the Premier League IV will be a whopping $1.5 million.  The action, including the battle for the 12th seat, will be televised in Europe, with Team Party's newest member, Kara Scott, serving as host.

Innovation award nomination for RealDealPoker.com

The creators of the groundbreaking Cut N’ Shuffle dealing system, RealDealPoker.com, have been nominated at the European Poker Awards next month.

Dusty Schmidt (Leatherass) Recaps Drag the Bar Signing

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on signing with Drag the Bar. Give us the background to joining the site after leaving StoxPoker.

Dusty Schmidt: I started as a member at StoxPoker, got promoted to coach, and they made me an equity holder. It was exciting, we had a good group of guys, and post-merger with CardRunners, they sometimes lost sight of what got them there. I did my best to stick in there, but StoxPoker wasn’t headed in the same direction as it was before. I wanted to go with a newer and more enthusiastic company that was similar to the product that StoxPoker was a few years ago.

PND: In your opinion, how was StoxPoker changing for the worse?

Dusty Schmidt: It’s more or less the commitment to the product. I didn’t feel like the site was getting the tender love and care it needed to be successful. StoxPoker didn’t have the flashiest players, but we had a solid group of guys who put out some killer content. I tend to be pretty enthusiastic and making coaching videos is typically not the best thing financially for a high-stakes player. If I am going to be taking time away from doing something that’s more profitable for me, I want to be enthusiastic about it.

PND: Tell us about your new role at Drag the Bar.

Dusty Schmidt: Basically the same thing as at StoxPoker. At StoxPoker before we merged with CardRunners, I was involved in the decision-making and a lot of the direction of the site. I didn’t have the ability to do that post-merger. At Drag the Bar, I’m producing content, writing blogs, and helping people’s games out.

PND: Who is Drag the Bar best suited for?

Dusty Schmidt: It’s well-suited for the grinder. I pride myself on making money through hard work. People who are willing to put in the hard work and surround themselves with good people can be a great source of inspiration.

PND: What poker training videos have you produced so far?

Dusty Schmidt: We’re just getting going. I have a video up there of a mid-stakes game and there are low- and high-stakes videos by me coming out soon. Drag the Bar most certainly aims to perform as well as or better than other coaching sites. We’re going to start with humble beginnings and build from there.

PND: Can Drag the Bar compete with sites like CardRunners and PokerXFactor?

Dusty Schmidt: I think we can. We’re going to take a few people by surprise.

PND: How can poker training sites differentiate themselves nowadays given that the industry is pretty saturated?

Dusty Schmidt: What CardRunners did with TrulyFreePokerTraining was definitely an angle that no one had taken before and it worked out really well for them. We'll look at some of the things that the successful training sites do and try to do everything as well as them.

PND: Does it feel good, in a sense, to get back to your roots?

Dusty Schmidt: I love being a part of something. I don’t want to be #1682 with the company. I like to be part of a smaller group and root each other on. That’s what it’s all about. I’m not thumbing my nose at money from coaching videos, but I do this because I want to interact with members, teach, and get messages from people thanking me for videos. That type of stuff is really rewarding. I don’t do this because it pays me better than poker.

PND: You’re in the midst of a one-year suspension of your amateur status by the United States Golf Association (USGA). How excited are you to get back into the game?

Dusty Schmidt: I am really excited. It’s definitely one of my true loves. I always wonder whether I should be playing poker or playing golf.

Bluff PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour tournament 8pm Wed 20 January

Bluff Europe has teamed up with PokerStars to celebrate its new UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) by hosting a very special tournament at 8pm UK time on Wednesday 20th January 2010.

Massive value in tomorrow’s Card Gang UKIPT special

Bluff Europe has teamed up with PokerStars to celebrate its new UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) by hosting a very special tournament at 8pm UK time on Wednesday 20th January 2010.

Alec Torelli leaves Doyle’s 10 to join Victory Poker

The Brunson 10, a team of young pros put together for DoylesRoom.com, is one short after heads-up specialist and Bluff Europe contributor Alec “traheho” Torelli has left the site in order to join Victory Poker, a new site on the Everleaf network.

Bluff Europe Weekend Round-Up

The first BluffEurope.com weekend round-up of 2010 brings news from the Bahamas as PokerStars turns the islands into the centre of the poker universe while on the other side of the globe Full Tilt hosted the largest ever tournament in Australia. Online, six-figure pots were played routinely. Here it all is:

Microgaming Network Attempts to Curb Online Poker Datamining

On Thursday, one of the top online poker networks in the industry, Microgaming, announced its intentions to eliminate datamining on its family of sites.

The Microgaming Network, which includes sites such as 32RedPoker, CrazyPoker, PurpleLounge.com, and Unibet, is one of the top ten poker networks in the industry, according to PokerScout.com. Averaging approximately 1,600 players in its cash games and offering a variety of tournament action, the Microgaming Network draws a tremendous amount of action from Europe. However, this hasn’t prevented Microgaming from taking what is a groundbreaking step in the online poker world.

Effective immediately, Microgaming announced the following changes to its hand history policy: "With immediate effect, hand histories on observed tables will no longer be stored on players’ computers and the practice of downloading and storing hand histories in bulk will be stopped." At most sites, all hands at a player’s table are transferred to a special file on the player’s computer hard drive. This allows a player to go back at a later time and review these histories - and opponents’ tendencies on the virtual felt – and use software like PokerTracker and Holdem Manager to analyze it.

Microgaming feels that such software has tilted the playing field between those who utilize such information and those who do not. Instead of using poker software to analyze play, Microgaming believes that it has become an “exploitative tool” that players use to pick up an unfair advantage.

In the announcement, Andrew Clucas, Head of Poker at Microgaming Software Systems, which operates the Microgaming Poker Network, stated, “Concern has been rising over the long-term effect of third party software upon the poker industry as a whole, and in particular the negative effect it has on the recreational player demographic. The decision to put a stop to the practice of datamining on the poker network is part of Microgaming’s overarching network strategy to support operators in attracting and retaining recreational players. It further demonstrates commitment in providing a secure and fair playing environment.”

While some in the poker playing community may view Microgaming’s move as an assault against those who use the varieties of software available, Clucas emphasizes that the company is simply ensuring a balanced playing field for its customers. “Microgaming is not seeking to alienate its winning players,” Clucas said. “There has been a move in the industry towards penalizing winners; we believe that is the wrong approach. There will always be winners and losers in poker. What we are trying to achieve is a more level playing field for all the players.”

Some in the poker world see the move by Microgaming as just the first domino in a chain about to fall. Steve Ruddock, a writer for the National Online Poker Examiner and a frequent participant in the battles on Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and the Cake Poker Network, believes that the move by Microgaming should be the standard for the online poker industry.

“I think datamining creates an unequal playing field because it puts the emphasis on data collection instead of hard-work, focus, and skill,” Ruddock noted. “Players are no longer rewarded for their hard-work: instead, players are rewarded for spending $50 to $100 and receiving data in return. Tracking software has turned breakeven or slight losers into winners by negating the advantage that decent winning players held over them: Work ethic and focus. Poker is equal parts strategy, psychology, and hard work; datamining eliminates the need for the third part.”

As to Microgaming’s decision, Ruddock sees that it could be a point of sale for players. “I think Microgaming’s decision will have widespread effects,” he opines. “At some point, ‘Do they allow datamining?’ will be just as important as ‘Do they offer rakeback?’ in the minds of potential customers. I hope more sites follow Microgaming’s lead. It would leave a handful of sites with a player base of dataminers and, once they see that the table is full of tight grinders, they’ll start looking for greener pastures.”

Top poker professional Kenna James, who is sponsored by PokerHost on the Cake Poker Network, took a philosophical approach to looking at the issue. “Datamining is an interesting platform for looking at us, as humans, as a microcosm of what is going on in the advancement of the high-tech world and its applications to us altogether,” James stated. “The issue I see with datamining is that it can reduce people to sets of numbers and I personally find this very impersonal; people are more then just a set of numbers.”

“The complexities of poker go beyond that in a live setting where you have to interact with real people, but maybe not so much online where you can hide behind the anonymity of an avatar,” Kenna explained. “Things get more complicated when you bring in emotion, compassion, and reason, among other things. These human qualities and characteristics can slowly be eroded when you begin to see people as just a number.”

James finished our discussion with an interesting thought: “Hours or days or years of using tools like this and becoming dependent on them for making their decisions may lead to some serious personal issues we have not yet discovered in life off the virtual felt.”

Whether other poker networks will follow Microgaming’s lead in the banishment of datamining and poker software remains to be seen. It also is a question as to how players will respond to not being able to use poker software on the Microgaming Network.

Reynolds Wraps Up PCA High Roller Win

A poker player since he was just 16-years-old, William Reynolds is no stranger to success, having come fourth at EPT San Remo last season for €377,000. 

He’s also had six figure wins online, but the $576,240 first-place prize he took down in the Bahamas Thursday marks his biggest score to date.

“It was the most roller coaster of a ride I’ve ever been on,” Reynolds said moments after the win. “I was all in so many times at the end of Day 3 it looked I was going to be the final table bubble. I ended up doubling up four times in a row and making it to the final table, chipping up, winning some key hands and taking it down.”

In just the first few hands of the final table, short-stacked Dmitry Stelmak pushed all in with K♠ T♠ and got looked up by Tobias Reinkemeier on A♠ T♣.

The domination held and Stelmak bowed out eighth collecting $66,885.

Reynolds then sent Canadian high-stakes pro Matt Marafioti to the rail, winning a race with ace-king over Marafioti’s sevens. Marafioti took $87,465 for seventh.

Will Molson then took a massive chip lead doubling through Reinkemeier as the blinds rose to dangerous levels for the five other finalists remaining.

Reinkemeier fell next, running eights into Reynolds’ kings to finish sixth, cashing for $108,045.

Before long, 2009 World Series of Poker Ladies Champion Lisa Hamilton’s said goodbye, bowing out fifth when she lost a race with jacks to Molson’s A♣ Q♥.

A queen on the turn did her in and the ladies champ was forced to settle for $133,770 in fifth place money.

A short-stacked Michiel Brummelhuis then shipped it with Q♠ 9♥ only to run into Reynolds’ aces and hit the rail fourth for $154,350.

EPT London High Roller fourth place finisher Adolfo Vaeza took third this time around when he got it in with a straight draw against Reynold’s top pair and failed to get there.

As he headed to the cage to grab $218,150, Molson and Reynolds went heads up.

Reynolds held the lead from the outset, and despite doubling up Molson once to give away the chip lead, kept up the pressure until the title was his.

Molson, who finished second in this very event last year to Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, was forced to take runner-up money again, this time cashing for $322,075 as Reynolds grabbed all title and the glory.

Typical of a $25k event, the PCA High Roller saw 84 of poker’s best square off for the title this week and Reynolds said it was no cake walk.

“It was a tough tournament and it feels awesome to take it down,” he said. “I can’t count the amount of times I was all in. I was short stacked and it looked like I was going to be back in my hotel room and down on the beach the next day and instead I chipped back up won some pots and went all the way to the top.”

For a comprehensive recap of the entire PCA High Roller event, click through to PokerListings’ Live Updates.

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Reynolds Wraps Up PCA High Roller Win

A poker player since he was just 16-years-old, William Reynolds is no stranger to success, having come fourth at EPT San Remo last season for €377,000. 

He’s also had six figure wins online, but the $576,240 first-place prize he took down in the Bahamas Thursday marks his biggest score to date.

“It was the most roller coaster of a ride I’ve ever been on,” Reynolds said moments after the win. “I was all in so many times at the end of Day 3 it looked I was going to be the final table bubble. I ended up doubling up four times in a row and making it to the final table, chipping up, winning some key hands and taking it down.”

In just the first few hands of the final table, short-stacked Dmitry Stelmak pushed all in with K♠ T♠ and got looked up by Tobias Reinkemeier on A♠ T♣.

The domination held and Stelmak bowed out eighth collecting $66,885.

Reynolds then sent Canadian high-stakes pro Matt Marafioti to the rail, winning a race with ace-king over Marafioti’s sevens. Marafioti took $87,465 for seventh.

Will Molson then took a massive chip lead doubling through Reinkemeier as the blinds rose to dangerous levels for the five other finalists remaining.

Reinkemeier fell next, running eights into Reynolds’ kings to finish sixth, cashing for $108,045.

Before long, 2009 World Series of Poker Ladies Champion Lisa Hamilton’s said goodbye, bowing out fifth when she lost a race with jacks to Molson’s A♣ Q♥.

A queen on the turn did her in and the ladies champ was forced to settle for $133,770 in fifth place money.

A short-stacked Michiel Brummelhuis then shipped it with Q♠ 9♥ only to run into Reynolds’ aces and hit the rail fourth for $154,350.

EPT London High Roller fourth place finisher Adolfo Vaeza took third this time around when he got it in with a straight draw against Reynold’s top pair and failed to get there.

As he headed to the cage to grab $218,150, Molson and Reynolds went heads up.

Reynolds held the lead from the outset, and despite doubling up Molson once to give away the chip lead, kept up the pressure until the title was his.

Molson, who finished second in this very event last year to Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, was forced to take runner-up money again, this time cashing for $322,075 as Reynolds grabbed all title and the glory.

Typical of a $25k event, the PCA High Roller saw 84 of poker’s best square off for the title this week and Reynolds said it was no cake walk.

“It was a tough tournament and it feels awesome to take it down,” he said. “I can’t count the amount of times I was all in. I was short stacked and it looked like I was going to be back in my hotel room and down on the beach the next day and instead I chipped back up won some pots and went all the way to the top.”

For a comprehensive recap of the entire PCA High Roller event, click through to PokerListings’ Live Updates.

Visit PokerListings.com

Kara Scott Joins PartyPoker

The Canadian will join Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Stewart Scott and Bodo Sbrzesny as a full-fledged member of Team Party.

“I’ve had such a positive experience in poker and have been incredibly lucky as well,” she said. “Being asked to be a part of Team Party is a real rush and I’m so honored. I just hope I can do them proud.”

Although she was born in Alberta, Canada, Scott rose to fame in England where she became one of the main hosts of the award-winning show Poker Night Live.

She went on to host the popular PokerStars European Poker Tour and most recently provided the commentary on the latest season of High Stakes Poker on GSN, which is set to air later this year.

While she will play tournaments patched by PartyPoker, Scott will continue her television work as well.

“They understand that while I absolutely love playing poker and am really stoked about playing more big live events and working on improving my game, my actual job is TV presenting,” she explained. “It was really gratifying that they feel I’ll bring value to their team as both a player and a TV presenter.”

Ironically, it was a PartyPoker event that gave Scott one of her first big breaks when it came to actually playing the game.

“When I started playing poker a few years ago I was lucky to get asked to be on a couple of Party Poker’s UK TV tournaments and had my first big cash, and win, with their Sports Stars Challenge III,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression for me to get involved with them now, particularly as I’ll be spending a lot of time in Canada.”

After winning the Sports Star Challenge III, Scott went on to make deep runs at the WSOP Main Event in back to back years. She finished 104^th for $41,816 in 2008 and 238^th for $32,963 in 2009.

In 2009, she also had her biggest score ever at the Irish Open where she outlasted 798 players before eventually falling to Christer Johansson heads-up. She earned €312,600 for second place.

In her relatively short span of playing high buy-in events, Scott has won $557,902, which places her 24^th on the all-time women’s tournament money list.

“Kara is a great signing and we are really looking forward to working with her,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“She has historic links with PartyPoker.com after taking down the Sports Stars Challenge III and we have been super impressed by her progress since then. As well as being a great presenter, Kara is also a fantastic player with great results and the potential to go even further. We are excited about this new relationship.”

As part of the deal, Scott will play tournaments around the world and act as a presenter for the Premier League when it moves to Vegas for the first time in February. She will also represent PartyPoker at a number of Canadian Poker Tour events.

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Kara Scott Joins PartyPoker

The Canadian will join Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Stewart Scott and Bodo Sbrzesny as a full-fledged member of Team Party.

“I’ve had such a positive experience in poker and have been incredibly lucky as well,” she said. “Being asked to be a part of Team Party is a real rush and I’m so honored. I just hope I can do them proud.”

Although she was born in Alberta, Canada, Scott rose to fame in England where she became one of the main hosts of the award-winning show Poker Night Live.

She went on to host the popular PokerStars European Poker Tour and most recently provided the commentary on the latest season of High Stakes Poker on GSN, which is set to air later this year.

While she will play tournaments patched by PartyPoker, Scott will continue her television work as well.

“They understand that while I absolutely love playing poker and am really stoked about playing more big live events and working on improving my game, my actual job is TV presenting,” she explained. “It was really gratifying that they feel I’ll bring value to their team as both a player and a TV presenter.”

Ironically, it was a PartyPoker event that gave Scott one of her first big breaks when it came to actually playing the game.

“When I started playing poker a few years ago I was lucky to get asked to be on a couple of Party Poker’s UK TV tournaments and had my first big cash, and win, with their Sports Stars Challenge III,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression for me to get involved with them now, particularly as I’ll be spending a lot of time in Canada.”

After winning the Sports Star Challenge III, Scott went on to make deep runs at the WSOP Main Event in back to back years. She finished 104^th for $41,816 in 2008 and 238^th for $32,963 in 2009.

In 2009, she also had her biggest score ever at the Irish Open where she outlasted 798 players before eventually falling to Christer Johansson heads-up. She earned €312,600 for second place.

In her relatively short span of playing high buy-in events, Scott has won $557,902, which places her 24^th on the all-time women’s tournament money list.

“Kara is a great signing and we are really looking forward to working with her,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“She has historic links with PartyPoker.com after taking down the Sports Stars Challenge III and we have been super impressed by her progress since then. As well as being a great presenter, Kara is also a fantastic player with great results and the potential to go even further. We are excited about this new relationship.”

As part of the deal, Scott will play tournaments around the world and act as a presenter for the Premier League when it moves to Vegas for the first time in February. She will also represent PartyPoker at a number of Canadian Poker Tour events.

Visit PokerListings.com

Vanessa Rousso Bests Tough Field in 2010 PCA $1,000 Ladies Event

Harrison "gibler123" Gimbel may have garnered the headlines at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) by winning the Main Event and a $2.2 million paycheck, but he wasn't the only one having a good time at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas.  One of the biggest hits of the Caribbean poker festival was the $1,000 + $100 Ladies No Limit Hold'em tournament.

A total of 91 women competed in the event, 33 of whom won their seats online at PokerStars via satellites with buy-ins starting as low as $2.20.  They won more than just their entry and spending money; the online qualifiers were also pampered at the resort's Mandara Spa and received instruction at a High Heels Poker Tour Ladies Boot Camp session from Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso.

As it turned out, the Boot Camp attendees probably should have listened to their instructor more closely, as Rousso went on to win the event, scoring a $24,725 cash.  Rousso burst onto the poker scene in 2006 when she placed 7th in the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship and then won a $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the WPT Borgata Poker Open a few months later.  In 2007, she finished second in PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), winning over $700,000, and became known to a broad television audience when she was the runner-up in the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.  The GoDaddy.com girl has also won two tournaments on NBC's "Poker After Dark."

Other members of Team PokerStars Pro in the tournament who were not as fortunate were Katja Thater, Veronica Dabul, Sandra Naujoks, and Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck.  Other known pros in attendance included J.J. Liu, 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champ Annette Obrestad, European Poker Tour (EPT) London Ladies champ Dagmara Aleksandrowicz, and Shirley Rosario, who placed fourth.

Another player of note was Elizabeth Bennett-Martin, who qualified for the Main Event via a PokerStars satellite for the second year in a row.  A portion of her winnings was earmarked for the charitable organization Cambodian Legal Education for Women (CLEW).  Created by her Toronto law firm, Bennett Gastle P.C., CLEW raises money to help impoverished women in Cambodia attend law school.  The goal of these women is to provide legal help to those who would not normally be able to access any in Cambodia, where the population of more than 14 million has only 538 lawyers.  Unfortunately, Bennett-Martin did not make the money in any event this year.

Sixteen women did cash, though, each getting a piece of the $88,270 prize pool.  Runner-up Halli Pinson was impressed with the field, telling PokerStars, "This event was a lot more serious than most ladies tournaments. I didn't recognize that many faces, but the field seemed a lot more experienced than usual. These women had come to play, and they had come to win! Vanessa Rousso dominated the event though – she had good cards and she's an experienced player: the combination was lethal."

Those who did not want to pony up $1,100, but still wanted to compete in a women-only tournament, or those who just wanted another shot at a title, had the chance to play in another Ladies Event the next day for just $300.  The field of 73 produced a prize pool of $19,119 and Diana Linke took home the top cash of $6,504.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,000 + $100 Ladies Event Final Standings

1. Vanessa Rousso - $24,275
2. Halli Pinson - $13,815
3. Ann-Margaret Johnston - $9,335
4. Shirley Rosario - $6,620
5. Jamie Kerstetter - $5,740
6. Pastora Sorenson - $4,635
7. Lisa Adams - $3,750
8. Vanessa Caldeira - $2,870
9. Irene Baroni - $2,425
10. Sarah Wasch - $2,425
11. Violetta Szczerba - $2,205
12. Nesrine Kourdourli - $2,205
13. Muriel Allard - $1,985
14. Anna Yamshchikova - $1,985
15. Alina Salnikova - $1,765
16. Hai Nguyen - $1,765

Dario Minieri Dominates PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller Event

Italian poker pro Dario Minieri leads the pack for the second straight day in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament. Minieri is a member of Team PokerStars Pro.

After two days of play, there are 24 players remaining out of the 84 who entered. Minieri was on top of the leaderboard after Day 1 and turned in another strong outing on Tuesday for Day 2. Minieri holds a stack of 430,700 chips entering Day 3 on Wednesday, edging out Michiel Brummelhuis’ second place tally of 403,800. Minieri and Brummelhuis are the only players to cross the 400,000-chip threshold and own a comfortable lead over former World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open champ Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar’s third place total of 301,700. Minieri won the High Roller event at the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Warsaw stop in October.

One of the final eliminations of the evening at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas was Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. He was all-in pre-flop with A-Q against Carter “bdybldngpkr” Phillips’ K-8. Phillips struck lightning in a bottle when the flop came K-8-4 and a running 9-J left Matusow scratching his head. William Thorson also exited at the end of the day when his 7-8 ran into pocket sevens. Thorson has made three EPT final tables.

2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer sent fellow PokerStars-backed pro Andre Akkari out on Tuesday. Akkari pushed with A-9 of diamonds pre-flop and received a call from Raymer, who had A-Q of clubs. The flop contained a queen, keeping Raymer out in front for good. Meanwhile, Chad Brown hit the rails when his A-9 couldn’t draw out on former WPT Invitational winner Alex Brenes’ wired pair of eights.

Brummelhuis helped his cause by casting off Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who appeared on several episodes of the G4 online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million.” Lichtenberger committed his chips pre-flop with K-Q, but Brummelhuis picked up aces. The flop came ace-high and that was all she wrote for the young American.

Here are the chip counts of the 24 players remaining in the 2010 PCA High Roller event:

1. Dario Minieri - 430,700
2. Michiel Brummelhuis - 403,800
3. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar - 301,700
4. Tobias Reinkemeier - 279,900
5. Dmitry Stelmak - 264,000
6. Alex Brenes - 253,600
7. Greg Raymer - 206,600
8. Bijan Zahmat - 198,200
9. Sandra Naujoks - 180,500
10. Shawn Buchanan - 171,100
11. Lisa Hamilton - 153,900
12. Nick Schulman - 143,400
13. Carter “bdybldngpkr” Phillips - 139,400
14. Joe Cada - 135,700
15. Matt Marafioti - 121,000
16. Brett Richey - 106,400
17. Paul Berende - 104,400
18. Christian Kruel - 103,800
19. Bill Edler - 94,700
20. Adolfo Vaeza - 92,600
21. William Reynolds - 89,100
22. James Calderaro - 89,100
23. Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron - 76,200
24. Will Molson - 60,000

The winner of the $25,000 buy-in poker tournament will earn $576,000 and the top 16 players will finish in the money. Cada and Raymer are former winners of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Phillips won the EPT Barcelona stop during Season 6, while Naujoks, one of only two women ever to win an EPT tournament, took down the Dortmund event during Season 5. Schulman made the final table of the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals twice in a three-year span, recording a win and a runner-up showing for $3 million combined. Many consider Baron to be one of the top poker players on the planet. Needless to say, it’s anybody’s game.

The High Roller event will play down to its final table this afternoon from the Bahamas and crown a champion on Thursday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from paradise. Pack your bags, we’ll leave tonight.

Annette Obrestad (Annette_15) Debuts on Poker After Dark

This week’s brand new installment of the NBC franchise “Poker After Dark” is dubbed “Nicknames.” Making her debut on the show is 21 year-old Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, who went by the moniker “The Huntress.”

On her departure from the familiar screen name “Annette_15,” Obrestad told her tablemates, “Basically, I needed a nickname for the show,” and called her traditional handle “boring.” In the first hand, Obrestad, the winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, raised to 600 and the table folded around. Then, Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth, a sponsored pro of UB.com, began Twittering at the table, truly a sign of the times.

Phil “The Unabomber” Laak raised to 550 pre-flop with 10-7 and Obrestad came along from the big blind holding A-2 of hearts. The flop came 5-9-9 with two hearts and the action went check-check to a three on the turn. Obrestad check-called a bet of 850 from Laak to another nine on the river. The action went check-check and Obrestad raked in the 2,900-chip pot with an ace.

Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren’s stay at the “Poker After Dark” feature table was brief. His “go big or go home” strategy resulted in four-way action to a flop of J-5-4 with two spades. Holding pocket queens, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari led out for 2,100 and Lindgren made it 5,400. The other two players got out of the way, Esfandiari pushed the price of poker to 15,400, Lindgren moved all-in, and Esfandiari made the call. Needing a spade or king to hit, the turn and river fell the jack of hearts and three of diamonds, respectively, sending Lindgren out in sixth place. Obrestad announced that she folded J-9 of spades after the flop.

Obrestad, who largely played tight throughout the first episode of “Nicknames” week, mixed it up and made it 600 to go with 8-5 pre-flop and received a call from Laak, who peeked down at K-4 of hearts. The flop came A-9-6 with two hearts and Laak check-called a bet of 750 from the young internet huntress. The nine on the turn resulted in a pair of checks, as did a king on the river. Laak scooped the pot with second pair, inching him further up the “Poker After Dark” leaderboard.

Esfandiari, while eating ground sirloin and brown rice throughout much of Monday’s kickoff episode, led out for 850 on a board of 8-8-4-10 with two hearts holding 10-4 of diamonds. Obrestad made the call with A-9 to see a five on the river. Esfandiari bet 2,400 and Obrestad called, shipping the pot of 7,900 to “The Magician.” Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, who was also part of “Nicknames” week, triumphantly identified what Esfandiari had: “He flopped two pair and turned three pair. Do you know how hard that is to do?”

Matusow hawked copies of his book, “Check-Raising the Devil,” which includes a foreword penned by Hellmuth. Not to be outdone, “The Poker Brat” declared that he enjoys partying with 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey and discussed his then-upcoming appearance on a VH1 weight loss show, “First to 100.” Hellmuth was set to team with fellow UB.com pro Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon for the series, which ultimately never panned out.

In the final hand shown on the kickoff episode, Esfandiari raised to 850 with 8-7 and Laak called from the small blind with K-10 of spades. The flop of 8-5-K with two spades offered a little sniff for everyone, but the action went check-check. An offsuit four hit on the turn, leading to a bet of 1,125 from Laak. Esfandiari made the call and the turn was an offsuit queen. Laak bet 1,850 and Esfandiari mucked, giving “The Unabomber” a 6,100-chip pot.

You can catch episodes of “Nicknames” week through Friday on NBC nightly at 2:05am ET. After this week, no new episodes of “Poker After Dark” will air until March, although re-runs will still be shown each night.

Poker Channel Airing PCA Live

The Poker Channel Europe has decided to air live coverage of the final events at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure over the next two days.

The World Cup of Poker final will air tonight (Jan. 13) and the final of the $25k High Roller will air on Thursday Jan. 14.

Coverage of both events will start at 9 p.m. GMT and continue for up to 8 hours until the events finish.

The Poker Channel reaches over 18 million homes in 25 European countries.

“We're delighted to bring live poker back to the Poker Channel with some of the most prestigious events in the poker calendar,” Poker Channel Managing Director Chris White. “We were the first channel to show a full live poker event on TV - the British Poker Open – back in 2005. We know our European viewers want more live TV coverage so we're working with world-class production teams and sponsors to offer this on a regular basis."

Full broadcast details can be found on The Poker Channel’s website.

Comprehensive coverage of the $25k High Roller event can also be found on PokerListings' Live Updates. 

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United Kingdom Poker Tax Laws Changing

Online gaming operators such as Ladbrokes and William Hill fled to Gibraltar last year in order to escape U.K. government gambling taxes and become more competitive with overseas operators. Now, it appears the relocation could be all for naught.

The U.K. government’s Department of Culture, Media, and Sport this week announced proposed reforms to the regulatory gambling structure that will likely force offshore operators currently licensed outside of the U.K. to apply for a license from the U.K. Gambling Commission if they want to provide services or advertise in the U.K. Until now, operators located in “white listed” offshore tax havens such as Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, and Malta were allowed to advertise in the U.K. while avoiding levies, but this situation will most definitely change with the enforcement of licenses from the Commission.

Other modifications include the enforcement of new regulations that would demand that all offshore operators have active systems through their applications that would share information about suspicious betting patterns with governing authorities in the U.K.

"Online gambling has changed significantly in recent years with many European countries taking new approaches to regulation," said Gerry Sutcliffe, U.K. Sports Minister. "It would be wrong of us to stand still where many things are changing around us – especially where the protection of British consumers is at stake."

Last year, Italy introduced gambling licenses for all online poker and bookmaking sites, setting business tax ranging from 2% to 5%. The Italian government has subsequently seen tax revenues rise across the industry.

Right2bet, a European consumer-led campaign behind the idea that it is a citizen’s right to choose, stated that it hopes the U.K. does not follow suit by blocking operators from the market or burden consumers with extra charges passed on from the high tax regime.

PokerStars Team Pro and The Guardian newspaper columnist Vicky Coren has also recently voiced her opposition to changing tax laws in U.K. card rooms, particularly the Victoria Casino in London. Coren hypothesized that the regular games at the casino will die due to “a stupid, greedy, ill-thought-out change to the tax rules.” The 2009 budget introduced a tax on poker games on top of the conventional hourly fee despite the fact that customers play against each other and not the house.

"This is the same government that wanted super-casinos and unlimited fruit-machine jackpots. So they want to encourage dangerous, mindless gambling but punish a game of skill? It's idiotic," Coren wrote. "All poker-lovers should resolve, next year, to write to their MPs and the chancellor about this punishing tax. It must be removed, for the survival of big casino poker rooms and the future of the live game in this country."

Rousso: Results Speak

Especially when you consider she taught roughly one-third of the field how to play.

In the end, Rousso bested the field of 91, including 33 women from around the world who qualified for the event on PokerStars, winning the $1k buy-in and a spot in a special Ladies Boot Camp offering onsite tutoring from Rousso and the High Heels Poker Academy.

But Rousso said booking the $24,000-win in the ladies-only field was still no cake walk.

“There were a couple of pros who played,” she told PokerListings. “J.J. Lui was in there, Annette Obrestad. There was a bunch of good players.

“Obviously you have to run well in any tournament you play in. But I didn’t make any mistakes that I know of, I played well and I’m happy with the way I played. Starting the year off with a victory is really cool.”

A victory in the PCA Ladies Event is really just a bit of icing on the cake that was the past 12 months for Rousso.

The 27-year-old upped her career earnings to over $3.5 million in 2009, was featured in a two-page spread in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and signed on as the newest spokeswoman for GoDaddy.com.

In addition to her runner-up finish at the NBC Heads-Up Championship, Rousso also booked her biggest career win, taking down the PokerStars European Poker Tour High Roller Event in Monte Carlo for $940,000 this past April.

Once the whipping-girl for online forum posters who believed she was more marketing tool than poker player, Rousso is now letting her results prove the doubters wrong.

“What I learned early on in poker is that results speak,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter what you say about how good you are, or how you talk about strategy. All that matters is your results at the end of the day.

“Early on in my career I just had to put my head down and plow forward making the best decisions I could and hopefully, as I believed, I had an edge over the fields that I was playing in and my results would speak for themselves.

“Now that I’m at the point in my career where I have $3.5 million in earnings, if you count my results live and online, I think my results are beginning to speak for themselves. I’ve only been playing for four and a half years, and I just hope over the next six years or so, my results will continue to speak for themselves.

“Then, after a solid performance of ten years in professional poker, you can establish yourself.”

And as far as her detractors are concerned, Rousso says she isn’t even paying attention these days.

“It doesn’t really matter what anybody says,” she said. “It matters what people in your circle, people you care about, what they think about you. And of course, what matters at the end of the day is your actions, what you do with the gifts you are given as a person. It’s not just about getting good results at the poker table. It’s also about what you do with your success.

“Once you achieve monetary success it’s about what do you do with that to be a better person. So I just try to make good decisions both on and off the poker table. I use my results on the poker table to help open doors off the poker table and hopefully help me make an impact on this world during the time that I’m here.”

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Jonas “Nebuchad” Danielsson Announces Retirement From Poker

On Friday, a top European online poker professional announced that he would quit playing poker, citing fatigue and a depleted bankroll as the reasons.

Swedish professional Jonas “Nebuchad” Danielsson, in a rambling blog post issued last week, stated (in a rough translation from the original Swedish), “The fire and passion I had for poker is now complete. It's like a bonfire that burned all night and now (it) hisses in the morning.” Citing an inability to sleep and the desire to experience other things in life, Danielsson says that the decision to quit playing poker has been brewing in his mind for the past two years; only now did the time feel right for his retirement.

In addition to the physical desire to stop playing, “Nebuchad” also states in the blog that he couldn’t do what most players do when faced with a depleted bankroll. There were “hints,” he says, from his fellow players that he should step down in levels and attempt to rebuild, which Danielsson pushed aside for two reasons. First, Jonas writes, “It would not change my financial situation. I should not have to work harder in my life, if I play my cards right.”

The second reason demonstrates one of the pitfalls of all players, whether they play at high-stakes or micro-stakes: “Secondly, going from top to bottom anywhere on the table and the risk of going out is too much for my vanity psyche. Without exaggerating, I would find it hard to look people in the eye.” Ego is something that all players have to face at some point in their poker playing lifetimes.

“Nebuchad” continues with a couple of memories that made him one of the top online players in the world. He discusses his legendary battles against Patrik Antonius, including a breakdown of a few hands, and remembers the moments quite fondly. “I can’t describe the feeling I had in poker (that day),” Jonas recalls.

In a down moment for his poker career, Danielsson recaps what should have been one of the top moments in his life. In 2008 during the Scandinavian Poker Awards, Jonas won the best online player award and accepted it from top professional Daniel Negreanu. When Negreanu asked him what his screen name meant, “Nebuchad” responded with a statement that implied that he disliked members of the Jewish faith. It was a statement that was taken out of context and, since that time, Danielsson has stated he meant no disrespect of the Jewish people and that he was highly nervous during the awards ceremony.

In a thread on the TwoPlusTwo forums, the common belief is that the Swede will be back at some point. The poster "mumrik" writes, “(From his blog post), it doesn’t seem like he has given up the thought of playing poker completely.” "GiantWalleye" agrees and cites his own experience: “I played fulltime back in 04-06, got bored and got a job. (I) realized I didn't like working and was back to playing fulltime by ‘08. He will be back.”

In his live playing career, Danielsson had been suffering from a downswing. According to the HendonMob database, “Nebuchad” did not cash in a live event in 2009 and only took in approximately $190,000 over his four-year live career. Jonas cashed in three events during the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and earned his best live cash, a third place in the Swedish Poker Championships for $67,658, early in the year. The earnings from his online cash games, however, are said to have Danielsson well off. At some point, the desire for the game could potentially bring “Nebuchad” back from the grave.

Harrison Gimbel Becomes Youngest PCA Main Event Champ Ever

Harrison "gibler321" Gimbel outlasted a talented final table in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event to become the youngest winner ever of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. He earned a $2.2 million first place prize.

Gimbel is just 19 years-old and unable to play in a casino on U.S. soil legally. Accordingly, he qualified for the PCA in the Bahamas and outlasted the record-setting 1,529-player field that turned out. In the final hand, Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman was all-in pre-flop holding a wired pair of eights and up against Gimbel’s pocket tens. The flop came 10-6-2, giving Gimbel top set and a veritable stranglehold in the hand. However, an eight on the turn left Reiman drawing to one out with the title of 2010 PCA Main Event Champion on the line. The river was a jack, shipping the $2.2 million prize to Gimbel and crowning the tournament’s youngest champion in history.

Thomas Koral was sent packing in eighth place when his pocket queens could not draw out on Reiman’s pocket aces. The board of 6-10-6-J-K ensured that the better hand held and Koral earned a healthy $201,300 for his troubles. Then, Zachary Goldberg pushed all-in with pocket tens and received a re-shove from Norwegian poker player Aage Ravn. The Euro showed A-Q, setting up a coin flip, and an ace on the turn sealed Goldberg’s demise. He earned an even $300,000 for his seventh place performance.

Ravn was bumped from the 2010 PCA Main Event in sixth place as part of a three-way all-in. Ravn and Ben Zamani both committed their chips pre-flop against Gimbel. The best hand pre-flop went to Gimbel, who had jacks and both players covered, while Zamani showed pocket eights. Ravn held A-Q of clubs and would be rooting for paint that wasn’t a jack to come. However, the flop fell 5-8-7, giving Zamani top set, and he never looked back. Ravn’s sixth place finish was worth $450,000.

Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo, one of just three players to win multiple PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) events in the same year, fell in fifth place. Seeking vindication for an earlier loss with pocket jacks, D’Angelo committed his chips with the hand and was up against Reiman’s Big Slick. However, a king hit on the river to send D’Angelo home, $700,000 richer for his wear.

Four-handed, Zamani put his tournament life on the line with A-10 against Gimbel’s pocket eights. Once again, pocket eights found top set and the hand was good enough to scoop the pot and send another player into the Bahamian night. Zamani, the last PokerStars qualifier standing, earned $1 million for fourth place in the flat pay structure.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman, in a stirring run through the PCA tournament, was eliminated in third place for $1.35 million. He shoved from the button with Q-10, but ran into Gimbel’s A-9. PokerStars’ coverage accurately noted that the 2010 PCA Main Event marked the second time in four months that Shulman has banked seven-figures in a major poker tournament. He’s the father of 2009 WSOP November Nine member Jeff Shulman, who took fifth in the Las Vegas spectacle for nearly $2 million.

Gimbel scooped a healthy pot about a half-hour into heads-up play to claim the chip lead. Gimbel raised to 600,000 pre-flop and Reiman made the price of poker 1.675 million. His opponent obliged and the flop came 2-A-8. Both players slowed down, as the action went check-check to a seven on the turn. Reiman checked, Gimbel bet 2.2 million, and Reiman called to bring a three on the river. Reiman once again checked, Gimbel fired out a bet of 4.7 million, and Reiman came along, watching as Gimbel turned over A-5 for top pair. Gimbel pumped his chip stack to 28 million, while Reiman fell to 17 million, reversing the totals entering heads-up play.

The battle between Gimbel and Reiman lasted less than hour. Here were the final results from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas:

1. Harrison Gimbel - $2,200,000
2. Tyler Reiman - $1,750,000
3. Barry Shulman - $1,350,000
4. Benjamin Zamani - $1,000,000
5. Ryan D'Angelo - $700,000
6. Aage Ravn - $450,000
7. Zachary Goldberg - $300,000
8. Tom Koral - $201,300

Elsewhere at the 2010 PCA, Dario Minieri leads a star-studded field of 52 players left in the $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament. His stack of 218,600 chips paces the field entering Day 2, with Lex Veldhuis hot on his tail with 214,500. In fourth place after one day of play is none other than reigning WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada, who will come armed to Tuesday’s action with a stack of 164,400.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest 2010 PCA coverage.

PokerStars’ NAPT Looks for Success in a Crowded Market

Rumors of a North American Poker Tour to accompany PokerStars' European, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American Poker Tours had been circulating through the industry for years and by the end of 2009, most of us had given up hope of seeing this plan come...

Winter freerolls from DevilfishPoker.com

With all the snow and ice around at the moment venturing outside into the freezing cold isn’t a very tempting proposition. The only snow that Bluff Europe will be interested in this week is a series of winter themed freeroll tournaments courtesy of Devilfishpoker.com.

Gimbel Crowned Youngest PCA Champ in History

“It feels amazing,” the Jupiter, Florida resident said moments after the win. “This is what I’ve dreamed of. I’ve always wanted to win a big major tournament and luckily I accomplished it on one of my very first ones.”

There was action from the outset in Monday’s final eight with Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo giving up the chip lead when he lost a massive race holding jacks against Gimbel’s A♠ K♠.

Ty Reiman then leapfrogged Gimbel, sending 26-year-old Chicago, Illinois online pro Tom Koral to the rail in eighth when his aces held against Koral’s queens.

21-year-old New Yorker Zac Goldberg was the next to go when his pocket tens failed to hold against Aage Ravn’s A♠ Q♠.

But Ravn failed to capitalize on the University of Arizona student’s misfortune, busting sixth when the Norwegian online qualifier re-shipped with A♣ Q♣ facing a Ben Zamani push.

Gimbel went all in behind with jacks, and although Zamani flopped a set of eights to win the hand and triple up, Gimbel’s jacks held to scoop the side-pot and rail Ravn.

Zamani then ran A♦ J♦ into Barry Shulman’s A♠ K♥ and looked to be out fifth before a diamond on the flop, turn and river spared him.

Left as the short stack after the hand, Shulman doubled through Gimbel to stay alive and it was actually start-of-day-chip-leader D’Angelo who exited fifth.

The double WCOOP winner shoved with jacks against a Zamani raise and Reiman re-raise and after Zamani folded, Reiman made the call with A♠ K♥.

A king on the river sent the 24-year-old New Yorker out and suddenly Reiman had built a massive chip lead that looked insurmountable.

Play moved down to three-handed when Zamani put his tournament life on the line with A♥ T♦ against Gimbel’s 8♥ 8♣.

Gimbel flopped a set and although the 23-year-old Floridian online pro turned some outs, the river blanked to end his hopes.

Heads-up began when 2009 World Series of Poker Europe champ Barry Shulman took third place, running Q♣ T♠ into Gimbel’s A♥ 9♦ and failing to improve.

And although Reiman actually held an 11-million-chip lead with 45 million in play to start, it wasn’t long before Gimbel moved in front, catching cards and getting Reiman to pay him off.

Gimbel won every key pot heads-up until he had built a 4:1 chip lead and before long, Reiman shoved with eights and he made the call with tens.

Gimbel flopped a set and despite the fact Reiman turned one of his own, the river blanked to give Gimbel the title.

“I felt my opponents were really good,” said Gimbel, whose previous poker accoplishments include a PokerStars Sunday Million final table appearance and a win in the 2009 Florida State Poker Championships. “A lot of these players were really good, but I had a lot of confidence in myself coming into today and it really showed.

“I used to wrestle in high school and my coach always said 'envision something and it’ll come true.' Not that it’ll come true, but it’ll happen.”

After six long days of poker in the Caribbean, the last man standing from a record field of 1,529 is now hoping to make a few things happen with the massive $2.2 million first-place prize.

“I’m going through all the stuff I can buy right now,” Gimbel said. “A new car, maybe a nice apartment or a house.”

To read a full recap of Gimbel’s historic win and the entire 2010 PCA, click through to PokerListings’ Live Updates.

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PartyGaming signs with Danske Spil to provide online gaming in Denmark

More positive news for online poker in Europe: Denmark's state-operated Danske Spil has signed a five-year agreement with PartyGaming, which will use its expertise and know-how to offer online gaming to the Danish market.

Denmark's relationship with gaming, particularly online gaming, has been patchy through the years. While live poker tournaments were considered perfectly legal, online poker was frowned upon by the Danish Supreme Court until very recently. The Danish gaming system, Danske Spil, enjoyed a lengthy virtual monopoly while all foreign gaming companies were forbidden to enter the Danish market for most of this decade, which sparked a number of disagreements with the European Commission regarding free trade agreements within the European Union.

In 2009, Denmark finally relented and put forth a draft legislation to partially open the Danish poker and casino market, which is expected to pass as law in 2011. Denmark further showed its commitment by allowing Danish people access to Hollywood Poker's online gaming facilities. Now in early 2010, the state's former monopoly, Danske Spil, is partnering with one of the world's largest online gaming providers to prepare for the upcoming competition.

The partnership between Danske Spil and PartyGaming has everything needed to make it successful: while the Danske Spil group is one of the largest in Europe, with over 500,000 registered customers and a reported turnover of €1.47 billion (about $2.13 billion) in 2008, PartyGaming bills itself as " the world’s leading listed online gaming company" thanks to its very successful brands that include PartyPoker, PartyCasino, and PartyBets.

Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of PartyGaming, was understandably glad to announce this new partnership:

This is a landmark B2B deal for PartyGaming and validates our strategy to become a leading provider of B2B services to both corporates and governments around the world.  Danske Spil is widely recognised as one of Europe’s leading gambling businesses, one that is pre-eminent in the Danish market.  We are delighted that Danske Spil has recognised our expertise and high standards of business practice and we look forward to building a significant and profitable enterprise as soon as the newly regulated Danish online gaming market opens.

Ryan has every right to be delighted. Danske Spil researched the market for seven months to find a partner that met its exacting standards for security, ethics, and, of course, quality. Their choice of PartyGaming is an endorsement of the highest possible level of the company's expertise and capability.

H.C. Madsen, CEO of Danske Spil, said of this new partnership:

With some of the world’s leading products in online poker and casino as well as a large international customer base, PartyGaming is definitely a strong business partner for Danske Spil. Combining this with Danske Spil’s unique and strong position in the Danish market with more than 500,000 Danish online customers will guarantee that together we will deliver a highly attractive customer experience to players in Denmark.

One issue that remains to be clarified is how the notoriously strict Danish taxation system will treat new gaming providers as they enter the market. Taxes on poker winnings are remarkably high on Denmark. For example, 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Peter Eastgate could only spend $2.5 million out of the $9.1 million he won with his bracelet, the rest going to the government's arks. Companies willing to offer online poker will have to jump through hoops to be on the government's exclusive no-tax list, meaning that players will not be taxed over their winnings on those sites. Hollywood Poker currently enjoys no-tax status and it is to be expected that Danske Spil's upcoming online poker venture will enjoy it too.

PartyGaming's shares (LSE: PRTY) last traded at 279.3 pence per share in London today.

Ryan D’Angelo, Tyler Reiman Lead PCA Entering Final Table

Eight players remain in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Online poker pros Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo and Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman lead the eight-handed final table by a comfortable margin.

For Reiman, a massive pot against European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie gave him the ammunition to nip at D’Angelo’s heels entering Monday’s final table. Duthie was all-in pre-flop holding pocket aces, the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em, and held a 4:1 advantage over Reiman’s pocket queens. The flop, however, contained a queen and propelled Reiman into the lead in the hand for good. Duthie was out two hands later, finishing in 12th place for $130,000. Reiman owned a stack of 9.35 million entering the final table, trailing only D’Angelo’s 10.09 million.

D’Angelo comes to the 2010 PCA Main Event with top-tier credentials. He was one of only two dual winners during the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), taking down a $320 buy-in Eight-Game event and a $320 buy-in Mixed tournament. The only other player to accomplish the feat in the September tournament series was Team PokerStars Pro member and former PCA winner Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, who took down two No Limit Hold’em events.

In third place on the 2010 PCA Main Event leaderboard is Barry Shulman, who is fresh off a victory in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for £801,000. He defeated PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu in the finale of that tournament, which also saw Jason Mercier, Praz Bansi, and WSOP Main Event November Nine members Antoine Saout and James Akenhead reach the final table. Shulman owns a stack of 6.81 million entering Monday’s play.

Benjamin “xthesteinx” Zamani sent longtime PCA Main Event chip leader Wayne Bentley packing on Sunday. The 23 year-old called Zamani’s all-in on a flop of 3-8-2, showing pocket deuces for a flopped set. In a scene reminiscent of Joe Cada in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Bentley turned over pocket jacks and watched in agony as the board ran out 6-7. Bentley, a Brit, took home an even $100,000 consolation prize for his 16th place showing.

Poker pro Jeff Madsen hit the rails in 19th place, pocketing $87,500 from the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Norwegian poker player Aage Ravn called Madsen’s all-in with pocket fours and Madsen flipped up A-J for an old fashioned race. The board ran out K-7-9-5-9 and that was all she wrote for the poker rapper.

Who will join D’Angelo, Reiman, Ravn, and Shulman at the eight-handed final table of the 2010 PCA, a stop on the EPT and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT)? Here’s a look at the leaderboard:

1. Ryan D'Angelo – 10,090,000
2. Tyler Reiman – 9,350,000
3. Barry Shulman – 6,805,000
4. Harrison Gimbel – 6,000,000
5. Thomas Koral – 5,370,000
6. Benjamin Zamani – 3,700,000
7. Zachary Goldberg – 2,340,000
8. Aage Floenes Ravn – 1,690,000

Ravn is the only non-American at the final table. A total of 57 countries were represented among the 1,529 players who entered the 2010 PCA Main Event. About half of those players were from the United States. Now, seven out of eight finalists, or a hefty 88%, hail from the North American nation. Similarly, Shulman, who is 63 years-old, is the only member of the final table older than 26. Gimbel is the baby of the group at 19, while Reiman and Goldberg weigh in at the tender age of 21.

Regardless of a player’s age, life-changing money is on the line when play kicks off this afternoon from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Each player remaining is guaranteed to earn at least $201,000:

1st Place: $2,200,000
2nd Place: $1,750,000
3rd Place: $1,350,000
4th Place: $1,000,000
5th Place: $700,000
6th Place: $450,000
7th Place: $300,000
8th Place: $201,300

The final table kicks off at Noon ET from Atlantis and will continue until a champion is crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PCA coverage.

Estonia Moves to Legalize Online Poker

Starting this year citizens of the small Northern European country will be able to legally play online poker on the nation-based Olympic Casino group platform, which was developed by industry giant Playtech.

“We are truly glad of this opportunity to start our partnership with Olympic as the leading casino entertainment provider in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Mor Weizer, executive manager of Playtech.

In 2011, the laws will change again, allowing international operators into the country as long as they are able to satisfy requirements set by the Estonian government.

A former economic leader, Estonia was one of the hardest hit countries by the world-wide recession in the late 2000s.

Last year retail sales plummeted and the government is hoping that regulating and taxing the online gambling industry will help stimulate the economy.

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